Game for a laugh
Comic trio Gang 3 Cha takes their show on the road with a tour that will take in 50 provinces
Still riding high on the success of last year’s “Mum, Theng, Nong Festiwow”, Gang 3 Cha, the much-loved comedy trio of Workpoint Entertainment’s game show “Ching Roi Ching Larn Cha Cha Cha”, is back on tour. Their new show “Gang 3 Cha Carniwow”, the promise, will be bigger, better and have even more people holding their sides.
“Far more fans turned out to watch last year’s shows than we expected and 5,000 tickets just weren’t sufficient to meet demand,” says Vinij Lertratanachai, the chief executive of Fresh Air Festival, which has partnered with Workpoint Entertainment to organise the tour.
“That’s why it’s a lot bigger this year. The tour will cover 50 rather than 30 provinces, there will be 10,000 seats available and the budget has doubled from Bt100 million to Bt200 million. And, as a very special bonus, some of the audience in each of the 50 provinces will receive Bt3 million as well as enjoying the show.”
The comedy trio, made up of Petchai Wongkamlao, aka Mum Jokmok, Pongsak Pongsuwan, aka Theng Therdtherng, and Chusak Iamsuk, aka Nong Chachacha, was formed in 1998 specifically for the TV game show. The troupe was later expanded to include other comedians, among them Boonyawan Pongsuwan, aka Somcheng, Sudarat “Tukky” Butrprom, Panupan Krutto, aka Pan Plutak, as well as musical outfit Room 3.50 Baht. Actor and singer Pisanu “Boy” Nimsakul and actress Sukonthawa “Mai” Koetnimit are also regular members of the cast.
Room 3.50 Baht, featuring Toffee on leading vocals, Bobby on guitar, Tick on drums, Benz on bass, Aun on keyboard and Pipo on vocals, are easily recognisable by the colours they wear – in a nod to Japan’s Power Rangers, they’re clad in pink, green, orange, violet, blue and yellow respectively.
The band started by making fun of LoveIs’s pop trio Room 39 and has since uploaded its cover songs to YouTube. So far “Thing Rak Long Mae Nam” and “Kin Tub Shi Mi” have enjoyed more than 100,000 hits and the lads recently became the first band on the Workpoint label.
“The stage content will be adjusted to take account of the culture of each province and the stories adapted to suit the Central, North, Northeast and Southern regions. Room 3.50 Baht will remain the opening act no matter where we perform,” Vinij says.
To ensure maximum audience participation, each “Gang 3 Cha Carniwow” show will get underway in the afternoon with promotional activities organised by more than 10 sponsors while the stage production, which runs for more than two hours, will kick off at 8pm every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for seven months. The entire event is backed up by a 200-strong production team, among them 100 crew from various corporations.
“It’s a family show on a large scale offering lots of excitement for all ages,” says Vinij.
Laugh till you cry
_ Admission is free but audience members are required to obtain tickets from sponsors.
_ Visit www.facebook.com/Gang3ChaCarniwow for how to get tickets and for the show schedule.
